Outraged by the eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her home of seven decades, tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through central Madrid and set up a tent encampment in the historic Puerta del Sol plaza. The protests began after police removed María del Carmen Abascal, known as "Maricarmen," on a stretcher from her apartment in the upscale Retiro neighborhood. Her father had rented the apartment in 1956, but after the building was purchased by an investment fund in 2018, her monthly rent was increased from 500 euros to 2,650 euros, and later adjusted to 1,650 euros—an amount she could not afford on her pension.
Images of Abascal being carried into an ambulance quickly spread across Spain, turning her case into a symbol of the country's severe housing crisis. From her hospital bed, Abascal stated that while she could not defend her home, she fought so others would learn to stand up for theirs. Over the weekend, multigenerational crowds gathered in Puerta del Sol to demand stronger tenant protections, an end to evictions when alternative housing is unavailable, and stricter controls on real estate investment firms, often referred to locally as "vulture funds." The Madrid Tenants' Union, which organized the protest, pledged to maintain the encampment until parliament enacts legal reforms.
In response to the outrage, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced that Spain's Socialist-led government would present a Royal Decree on housing at its upcoming cabinet meeting. However, Abascal and other critics questioned whether public authorities had ignored the daily reality of widespread evictions for too long. Spain faces an estimated shortage of 550,000 homes, driven by stagnating incomes, expanding tourism, and population growth in major urban centers. Furthermore, public subsidized rental housing represents less than 2% of Spain's total housing stock, far below the European Union average of 8%.
The tent encampment in Puerta del Sol has drawn strong comparisons to Spain's historic 2011 "indignados" movement, when protesters occupied the same square for 28 consecutive days during a global financial crisis. Political analysts observe that while the 2011 demonstrations centered on citizens unable to purchase property, today's escalating crisis has left many residents struggling to afford even a single rented room.